Endorser die drum



April 16, 1963 s. J. WENTHE ETAL 3,085,505

ENDORSER DIE DRUM v April 15, 1963 s.`J. wENTHE ETAL 3,085,505

ENDORSER DIE DRUM Filed Jan. 50, 1962 2 Sheets-'Sheet 2 Siejhen JWenfhe George S. Jones INVENTORS BYQ/W% .ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 16, 1963 ice NDI. a cor eration of New .ersey Filelrl Jan. 30, 1962, Ser. No. 169,856

9 Ciairns. (Cl. 101-111) This invention relates to an endorser die drum and more particularly to a die drum which can be easily 1nstalled and removed from an endorser and which after removal can be readily disassembled and assembled to facilitate changing of the dies and thedate stamp which is carried by the drum. n

While a number of different types of endorser die drums have been made available to the trade, one problem frequently encountered has been the difliculty which is involved in replacing or changing the endorser dies. Such die drums require considerable handling to disassemble the same, with the result that the operators hands are soiled by the residual ink carried by the parts. With the endorser `die drum of the present invention, this problem has been substantially reduced or eliminated; that is, the hereinafter described die drum can be assembled and disassembled with ease and without excessive handling, such as w-ould dirty the hands of the operator.

Broadly, the endorser die drum of the present invention comprises two annular shells, each of which carries a printing die. The shells are fastened together by means of two wire spring clips and one sheet metal spring clip. The shells, when assembled, can be mounted on a yoke, rotatably carried by the endorser, and include means for resiliently snapping over the central bosses of the yoke so that the die drum is held in its operating position in the endorser.

The primary object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide an improved endorser die drum.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an endorser die drum which can be easily installed and removed from the endorsing apparatus to facilitate changing of the dies.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a die drum which can be easily assembled or disassembled to change the dies or the date stamp which is carried within the die drum without excessive soiling of the operators hands.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved die drum assembly which comprises a pair of annular shells which carry printing dies and are coupled together by means of an easily releasable sheet metal spring clip and two spring wire clips so that the assembly can be readily assembled and disassembled.

Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawings in which like characters denote like parts and wherein:

FIG. l and FIG. 2 are an end elevation and a plan view respectively of the endorser die drum of the present invention;

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are an end view and a plan view of the yoke on which the die drum of the present invention is releasably mounted in an endorser;

FIG. 5 is an exploded picture view showing the parts of the die drum and their relation to each other; and

FIG. 6 is a section view of the date stamp taken along lines 6 6 of FIG. 5.

The endorser die drum of the present invention comprises a pair of shells 11 and 13 which carry endorser dies 15 and 17 respectively on the outer annular peripheries thereof. Along a longitudinal edge portion of each annular periphery are formed at extensions 19 and 21, respectively, which extensions are sufliciently wide to space the annular peripheries of the shells in diametrically opposed relation about the geometric axis of the peripheries. The geometric axis is the same as the `axis about which the die drum rotates in the endorser, not shown. The shells 11 and 13 are strengthened by means of the sections 23 and 25 respectively which extend from one longitudinal edge of the associated annular periphery to the extension which is formed along the other edge thereof. The sections 23 and 25 serve the additional purpose of supporting the pairs of mating blocks 27 and 29. Blocks 27 and 29 cooperate with the extensions 19 and 21 to position the die drum for rotation about its geometric axis. A shelf 30 and 31 is provided on the back of the blocks 27 and 29 respectively for supporting the date stamp carried by the die drum. Each mating pair of blocks 27 and 29 is provided with a bore 33 for engaging a boss on the supporting yoke in the endorser as will be hereinafter described. A recessed area is also formed in the end of each of the blocks 27 and 29 so as to provide an inwardly directed jaw 35 which guide the bore 33 in the blocks onto the mounting boss carried by the endorser.

Within the die drum each section 23 and 25 is cutout to receive the date stamp designated by the numeral 39. The date stamp which is conventional in construction comprises a plurality of dies carried on movable belts which can be selectively positioned with respect to the carrying structure so that any. date can be arranged in printing relation along with dies 15 and 17. The periphery of each shell, and the die which is carried th-ereby is cut out as at 40 and 41 to receive the end of the date stamp 39 so that the date which is selected by moving the belts on the date stamp to a given position is imprinted at the same time as the information carried by the dies 15 and 17. Adjacent to the end of each shell, small slots 43 and 45 are formed in sections 23 and 25, respectively, which slots receive the spring wire clips 47 and 48. The sections 23 and 25 also have small holes 49 and 51 which locate the knees 53 which are formed near the ends of the clips 47 and 48. When thus installed the clips 47 resiliently urge blocks 27 and 29 into mating engagement with each other as shown in FIG. 1.

The numeral 55 designates -a metal strip having four detents 57 which project downwardly from the surface of strip 55 through small apertures 59 and 61 formed in the extensions y19 and l21 respectively. The numeral 61 `designates a spring sheet metal clip which is positioned underneath the extensions -19 and 21 in such a way that the T-shaped ends 63 and 65 engage the detent portions 57 and thereby releasably couple the extensions 19 and '21 together. The numerals 67 and 69 designate small reinforcing webs which extend `downwardly from the under surface of extensions 119 and 21 and it is behind these webs that the upper portions of spring clips 47 .and 48 are retained. The date stamp -as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 comprises a main frame 71, which is connected by cross pieces 73 and is supported by shelves 30 and 31 in the die drum and a pair of positioning bars 75 and 77. The bars 75 `and 77 are urged by means of helical springs 79 and 81 against the inner periphery of the plurality of belts 83 which carry the date stamp dies. Thus, the bars 75 and 77 position the selected date stamp dies with respect to the periphery of dies 15 and 17 and are iiexible so that the die `drum is not raised away from the material being imprinted when the date stamp moved into contact therewith.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, is shown the yoke 91 which cooperates with the die drum to support the same for rotation in an endorsing machine. The yoke 91 includes two bosses 93 and 9S which engage the bores 33 in the blocks 27 and 29 while the legs 97 and 99 of the yoke, which carry the bosses 93 and 9S, are proportioned to fit the space between the sections 23 and 25 of the die drum. The bosses have a surface 101 and 103 respectively which form a bearing for supporting the yoke for rotation about a xed axis in the endorsing machine, such axis corresponding to the geometric axis of the annular periphery of shells 11 and 13 and of the dies 15 and 17 rigidly attached thereto.

The method of disassembling the die drum will now be described. First, the sheet metal clip 61 is slid along with respect to the undersurface of extensions 19 and 21 by applying force to one end, e.g. 63 until the remote end 65 springs off the detents 57. Having been released on one end, the other end, e.g. 63, freely drops oir the other detents 57. Now, the strip 55 can be removed from extensions -19 and 21. Next, the spring clips 47 must be expanded as, for example, by means of a simple expander wrench, not shown, so that the knees 53 are removed from the holes 49 and 51. Clips `47 now will drop out of the drum and the die drum assembly comes apart. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that a change in the date of the date stamp 39 requires one merely to move the belts carrying the specific date to the new desired position and that this can be accomplished without disassembling the die drum. Since the dies 15 and 17 are xed on shells 11 and 13 respectively, it is necessary when changing the dies to substitute new shells carrying the different dies therefor. In such instances disassembly of the die drum is required. The assembly of the die drum is accomplished by reversing the steps of disassembly.

It will now be apparent to those skilled in the art that the improved die drum of the present invention can be easily assembled and disassembled and easily installed and removed from an endorser without necessitating extensive handling by the operator so that `soiling of the operators fingers by residual ink on the die drum is reduced or avoided entirely.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinabove and as defined in the appended claims.

Having now particularly described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States and what we claim is:

1. A die drum comprising:

(a) a pair of shells each having:

(1) an annular periphery of less than 180 for carrying a printing die,

(2) Wall means for supporting the shell for rotation about the geometric axis of said periphery,

(3) a peripheral extension formed on one longitudinal edge of said periphery for positioning the shells diametrically opposite each other about said axis when the extensions on the shells are `abutted together.

(b) a releasable clip in engagement With said extensions for coupling said shells together, and

(c) means disposed within said shells and in engagement with said wall means for resiliently maintaining the peripheries of said shells in diametrically opposed relation about said axis.

2. A die drum in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

(a) the periphery of each shell and the die to be carried thereon is provided with an opening for receiving an auxiliary die mechanism and (b) means is formed on the wall means of each shell for supporting said die mechanism in operative relation to the openings in the peripheries of said shells.

3. A die drum in accordance with claim 2 wherein: -said resilient means comprises a substantially U shaped vspring clip, the ends of which engage the wall means of .the shells respectively to hold the shells together.

4. A die drum assembly for an endorser comprising:

(a) a yoke adapted to be mounted for rotation about a fixed axis in the endorser to rotatably support said die drum,

(b) :a pair of shells each having:

(l) an annular periphery of less than for carrying a printing die (2) wall means for engaging said yoke to position the shell with respect to the yoke so that the .geometric axis of said periphery is superimposed on said fixed axis;

(3) a peripheral extension formed on one longitudinal edge of said periphery for positioning the shells diametrically opposite each other about said xed axis when the extensions on the shells are abutted together.

(c) means for releasably coupling the extensions of said shells in abutting relation, and

(d) means disposed within said shells for resiliently urging said wall means of each shell into engagement with said yoke.

5. A die drum assembly in accordance with claim 4 and wherein:

(a) said yoke in profile has two substantially parallel legs,

(b) a pair of bosses are provided in opposed relation on said legs, and

(c) said wall means is recessed to receive said bosses and includes tapered portions for guiding the bosses into the recessed portions thereof.

6. A die `drum assembly in accordance with claim 5 and wherein:

(a) the periphery of each shell and the die to be carried thereon is provided with an opening for receiving an auxiliary die mechanism, and

(b) the Wall means of each shell includes a shelf for supporting said die mechanism in operative relation to `the openings in the peripheries of said shells.

7. A die drum assembly in accordance with claim 6 and wherein:

(a) said bosses are located in alignment with said fixed axis, and

(b) the wall means associated with each shell is symmetrical and arranged in complementary relation to the wall means of the other shell.

8. A die drum assembly in accordance with claim 7 and wherein said tapered portions at a point adjacent to the recessed wall means are smaller than the bosses whereby said bosses are confined in the recessed wall means by the tapered portions and by the action of said resilient means.

9. A die drum assembly in accordance with claim 8 and further comprising a pair of printing dies rigidly attached to the peripheries of said pairs of shells respectively and wherein said resilient means comprises a substantially U shaped spring clip, the ends of which engage the wall means of the pair of shells respectively to hold the shells together.

No references cited. 

1. A DIE DRUM COMPRISING: (A) A PAIR OF SHELLS EACH HAVING: (1) AN ANNULAR PERIPHERY OF LESS THAN 180* FOR CARRYING A PRINTING DIE, (2) WALL MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE SHELL FOR ROTATION ABOUT THE GEOMETRIC AXIS OF SAID PERIPHERY, (3) A PERIPHERAL EXTENSION FORMED ON ONE LONGITUDINAL EDGE OF SAID PERIPHERY FOR POSITIONING THE SHELLS DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE EACH OTHER ABOUT SAID AXIS WHEN THE EXTENSIONS ON THE SHELLS ARE ABUTTED TOGETHER. (B) A RELEASABLE CLIP IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID EXTENSIONS FOR COUPLING SAID SHELLS TOGETHER, AND (C) MEANS DISPOSED WITHIN SAID SHELLS AND IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WALL MEANS FOR RESILIENTLY MAINTAINING THE PERIPHERIES OF SAID SHELLS IN DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED RELATION ABOUT SAID AXIS. 